Jerusalem Welcomes the Swifts

Swifts birds, one of the insipring symbols of Green Pilgrimage, “spend most of the year living in South Africa and in the springtime migrate north in order to breed. Israel is apparently one of their favourite destinations. Like the swallows mentioned by King David, the swifts also chose to make their home near G-d’s dwelling place in Jerusalem. There are 88 such nests in the Western wall. Because of their strange physiology, the birds need to be able to fly straight into their nests and the holes in the stones in the Western Wall seem to suit their requirements. The Friends of the Swifts Association, the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel, and Tel Aviv University are working together to ensure the future of the Common Swift by all available means: saving existing nesting sites, designing and building new ones, facilitating special educational programs”. (Mr. Amnon Hahn, Friends of the Swifts Association)